The invention is directed to bag dispensers, and, more particularly, to bag dispensers for plastic bags.
In many shopping environments--e.g. grocery stores, mall specialty shops, department stores--customer purchases are often loaded into plastic bags provided in stacked bundles known as bag packs. The bundles consist of individual bags stacked into a pack and secured together using small welds or adhesives. The bags are typically either merchandise bags or tee shirt style bags.
To expedite and simplify the bagging operation, the bag packs are commonly suspended on a metal support rack. Merchandise bags are secured together in a header that is typically connected to the remainder of the bag pack across a perforated portion that is cut in each bag panel. To remove the bag from the header, the perforated portion is torn or severed by pulling on the bag.
Stores are always attempting to reduce costs and eliminate inefficiencies, including those of their checkout and bagging operations. One of the more recent innovations is the scan-and-bag, also known as scan-and-load, method of handling merchandise at the checkout counter. In this method, a universal price code (UPC) associated with the merchandise is scanned, and then the merchandise is immediately placed in a bag supported below the checkout counter. This technique results in the use of fewer personnel at checkout counters, or at least more efficient checkout procedures by a single individual. For example, at one cash register station in a department store, or a checkout in a small specialty shop, the sales person can remove the merchandise from the counter as it is scanned and place it in the bag. This method eliminates scanning the products, stacking them in a separate place, and then subsequently bagging them when the sales transaction is complete.
Besides inefficiency, another problem associated with older bagging techniques is pilferage. Customers remove small sale and novelty items displayed near the cash register or checkout counter, and then they stack them with the scanned merchandise sitting on the counter while the salesperson's back is turned to obtain a credit card authorization. Skilled shoppers and shoplifters place such items in the group of materials already totaled, so that the sale or novelty items, for which no payment has been made, are bagged with items that have been paid for. The scan-and-bag method eliminates this problem.
One difficulty of the scan-and-bag technique is the support of the bag below the counter while it is being loaded, so that the bag does not tear from the header of the bag pack. One solution to this problem has been the counter cutout, in which the sales counter is notched and a surface placed at approximately the level of the bag bottom to support the bag and its contents. An example of a cutout is depicted in FIG. 6, where a bag support rack as disclosed in the aforementioned application Ser. No. 08/785,859 is shown. Cutouts, however, are costly; they can shut down a cash register during construction; and, they cannot always be retrofitted into an existing counter configuration. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a bagging system that can be used in a scan-and-bag operation without the problems and limitations of existing technology.